Humbled by the Hawks -- twice.
The Cariboo Cougars suffered two weekend whippings at the hands of the Valley West Hawks. In the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League doubleheader, played at Kin 1, the Hawks won 6-1 on Saturday night and 7-1 on Sunday.
The series was supposed to be a battle for second place in the 11-team league but the Cougars didn't compete as hard as was required and expected.
"We got outworked," said Cougars assistant coach Chris Rowland.
"They took it to us and we got away from our physical style of play. That's kind of our bread and butter right now. That's what propelled us on our 12-game winning streak (earlier this season), winning the one-on-one battles and this weekend it just wasn't there for us."
Defenceman Jared Crossan scored the only goal for the Cougars on Sunday. His first-period, first-shift marker was quickly answered by a Valley West power-play tally, and then the Hawks got two more man-advantage goals before the period was done.
The Cougars still had life when they stepped onto the ice for the second period but were delivered a fatal blow on a lucky Valley West bounce. On the play, Hawks blueliner Justin Klimek tried to ring the puck in off the glass and instead watched it carom strangely, right into an open Cariboo net. Cougars goalie David Readman, who had left his cage to play the puck, was the victim.
Now up 4-1, the Hawks added two more goals in the second and another in the third.
"We just didn't get it done," Crossan said. "Pucks weren't getting in deep and the little things were killing us. They're a good team, though. Our team just wasn't there as a whole. We weren't all going in the right direction. There was a little bit of individual play."
Justin Duncan gave the Cougars their lone goal on Saturday.
On Oct. 2-3 in the Lower Mainland, the Cats beat the Hawks 5-1 and 4-3.
With the weekend losses, the Cougars (17-8-1) dropped to fourth place in the standings. The Hawks (17-4-5) are second to the Vancouver Northwest Giants, who lead the way with an 18-3-5 record.
The Cougars will now prepare for a trip to Calgary, where they will skate in the world-famous Mac's AAA Midget Hockey Tournament. Their first game is Dec. 26 against the Beardy's Blackhawks, a team that includes Alex Forsberg, the No. 1 overall bantam choice by the WHL's Prince George Cougars this past spring.
"It's an exciting tournament, lots of teams, and it's going to be some good hockey," said Crossan, who helped the Cats make the Mac's playoff round last year.
"We lost out to the Giants last year and that was a heartbreaker. Hopefully this year we'll go the full way."
